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SES ENHANCES QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE IN THE PHILIPPINES THROUGH SATMED E-HEALTH PLATFORM

Written on 22 Jul 2016

LUXEMBOURG/ PHILIPPINES, 22 July 2016 ­–The world-leading satellite operator SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and non-governmental organisation (NGO) German Doctors announced today the launch of satellite-based e-health platform SATMED in the Philippines. The SATMED solution was deployed at the German Doctors’ hospital in Buda, Marilog District, Davao City.

SATMED will allow German Doctors to enhance healthcare provision and deliver accessible e-health services to remote communities on the island of Mindanao. German Doctors is one of the partner NGOs of SATMED during the ongoing pilot phase.

SATMED can improve public health in developing countries by enabling multiple medical applications and tools integrated on a single platform over satellite broadband services. The solution was developed by SES Techcom Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, and is funded by the Luxembourg Government.​

The new SATMED solution deployed in Central Mindanao will enable German Doctors to provide better quality healthcare services when they visit remote villages. Using SATMED, teams can use portable devices such as tablets to collect the patients’ data. The data collected is then processed, aggregated and synchronised securely on SATMED’s cloud platform. SATMED’s text messaging functionality will allow doctors to keep tabs on large groups of patients living in remote villages, whose main form of contact with the outside world is through mobile phones.

SATMED will enable German Doctors to communicate with doctors and medical experts around the world via video conferencing. Training of local medical professionals via SATMED’s e-learning solutions will be another opportunity.

“More than 200,000 people are living within the catchment area of the Buda Community Health Care Centre – about half of those coming from the indigenous population, who often have no access to medical care and whose lives are below the poverty line. German Doctors is committed to improving healthcare services for local communities, but poor terrestrial connectivity in rural locations poses obstacles in analysing and monitoring our patients’ health problems, accessing their medical records, providing follow up of care, and managing other areas of our outreach,” said Dietmar Schug Managing Director of German Doctors. “SATMED and its suite of medical applications opens up healthcare possibilities and boosts our efforts in making accessible, quality healthcare a reality for these remote communities.”

“The implementation of SATMED – through satellite connectivity – makes digital imaging, e-learning and consultation, and other e-health solutions, available to the local medical community,” said Glen Tindall, Vice President of Sales, Asia-Pacific at SES. “Just as German Doctors’ work in Mindanao is vital to the local population, so is connectivity to the provision of quality healthcare, and we are proud to support German Doctors in bringing these much-needed health services closer to patients in rural locations.”

For more information on SATMED deployment in the Philippines please click here

SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) is the world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of more than 50 geostationary satellites. Focusing on value-added, end-to-end solutions in four key market verticals (video, enterprise, mobility and government), SES provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, and mobile and fixed network operators, as well as business and governmental organisations worldwide. SES stands for long-lasting business relationships, high-quality service and excellence in the satellite industry. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements.

SES’s newest subsidiary, MX1, is one of the leading media service providers and offers a full suite of innovative digital video and media services. Augmented by SES’s stake in O3b Networks, a next generation satellite network combining the reach of satellite with the speed of fibre, SES significantly enhances and scales up existing video and data capabilities.

German Doctors is a non-governmental organisation working internationally by sending volunteer doctors to projects in the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Sierra Leone. German Doctors is committed to a life of dignity by providing healthcare and education to vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the project regions. Preventative measures like feeding programmes or hygiene education are developed to improve patients’ long-term health situations. German Doctors grants help to everybody regardless of race, ethnic affiliation, religion, nationality, political belief or any other distinctions. The physicians work without remuneration for six weeks in their holidays or retirement. Since 1983, more than 3,000 physicians have worked voluntarily in more than 7,000 missions.

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